The Slowly Shrinking Federal Workforce
Some Federal Managers Just Can't Manage
The Backup Plan to Avoid Another Shutdown
Reminder: Use or Lose Annual Leave
Nose Dive in Retirement Claims Processing
Better Information on Winter Weather
AUTHOR ARCHIVES
Tammy Flanagan
Tammy Flanagan is the senior benefits director for the ">National Institute of Transition Planning Inc., which conducts federal retirement planning workshops and seminars. She has spent 25 years helping federal employees take charge of their retirement by understanding their benefits.
For more retirement planning help, tune in to "For Your Benefit," presented by the National Institute of Transition Planning Inc. live on Federal News Radio on Mondays at 10 a.m. ET on WFED AM 1500 in the Washington-metro area. Archived shows are available on NITPInc.com.
Uncertain Times
September 22, 2011 Amid natural disasters, the threat of terrorism and financial instability in our world, it's hard to approach the retirement planning process with a sense of certainty these days. Last week, I wrote about a survey undertaken by the MetLife Mature Market Institute and the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University ...
Go or No Go
September 16, 2011 Earlier this year, the MetLife Mature Market Institute and the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University produced a report called Best-Case Strategies for a Flexible Retirement. Here are some of its key findings: More than a quarter of survey respondents reported retiring earlier or later than planned due to unexpected ...
Not Quite Right
September 9, 2011 Last week, I wrote about the importance of getting an estimate of your retirement annuity as you plan for life after government. But here's the problem: Some estimates are incomplete and some have errors. It's very important that you have some idea of how your service history should be used ...
Predicting the Future
September 2, 2011 One of the important things all employees should do before retirement is request an annuity estimate. This is a calculation of your Civil Service Retirement System or Federal Employees Retirement System benefit prepared by your human resources office for a specific retirement date. It's different from the do-it-yourself estimates that ...
Overwhelmed?
August 26, 2011 I thought I would take a little time this week to address some recent reader questions and requests for help. I can't be the only one overwhelmed with trying to find my way through the maze! My agency is rapidly losing experienced folks but not replacing them all, and the ...
Diminishing Returns
August 19, 2011 Last week, I wrote about steps you can take to make sure the processing of your retirement benefits goes as smoothly as possible. Of course, even if you do everything the right way, sometimes you end up with an interim benefit much smaller than you expected, or with a computation ...
Smooth Sailing
August 12, 2011 Are you one of the thousands of federal employees who will be retiring during the next year? If you're lucky, your transition will go something like my aunt's and uncle's, who left government in the late 1970s under the Civil Service Retirement System. They filled out their applications about 30 ...
Social Security Trade-Offs
August 5, 2011 Last year around this time I wrote a column on the best time to apply for Social Security retirement benefits. My advice boiled down to answering the following three questions: Are you still working? Do you need the money? How is your health (how long will you live)? One thing ...
Early Outs
July 29, 2011 This week I presented my second webinar for Government Executive and was amazed by how many of you tuned in to learn more about your retirement! Thank you for taking time out of your day to join in. I am glad employees are making sure they understand the benefits associated ...
Safety Net
July 22, 2011 I recently received an email from Daniel, a Civil Service Retirement System employee, who is getting ready to retire. He's trying to decide whether to take a full survivor annuity for his wife, or choose a partial annuity and then purchase a universal life insurance policy with the money he ...
